I've been decoding the NFL since 1998. Since then I've developed an all knowing statistical formula that will beat the oddsmakers at 57%.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Replacement Officials

It's no secret that week 1 with the exception of the Super Bowl, is the most gambled on week during the NFL season. ESPN has been constantly programming our brains into thinking these "replacement officials" (one of them reffed in the lingerie bowl OH NO) will somehow blow a major call at the end of the game. Let me remind you about week 1 of 2010 when the Detroit Lions played at the Chicago Bears. The Bears were favored by 6 points, and finally had a lead of 5 points at 19-14 (the refs were actually pro-Lions up in until that point) when one of the most controversial calls ever happened at the end of the game. It was rightfully called a TD (Look at the photo above) until they had to review it in the booth, where they (with no evidence) took away the TD based on the fact the ball left Johnson's hands way after catching it with two feet in bounds. Instead of the Lions winning, the Bears won by 5 points and I missed out on making 400.00 using only 8.00 worth of parlay bets. I made a youtube video about the play which ultimately lead to the termination of my channel (NFLranking) which had 1779 subscribers and over 3.5 million views.

Apparently the owners HATE instant replay and want the game to be controversial according to Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, so more people will talk about the game Monday morning. Just hearing this makes me want to puke. I'm pretty sure the NBA had a huge falling out after the 2002 Western Conference Finals. The NFL or sports rather wouldn't exist if people couldn't find a way to gamble on it. The reason why Baseball starts in the year 1901 is because between 1860-1900, too much gambling and rigging occurred to count the stats as legitimate. That's why the Black Sox scandal was such a big deal. The MLB destroyed 18 years worth of trust with their fans.

I am passionate about this subject because I like to gamble on football. However, knowing that the owners want "bad calls" has somehow confirmed a suspicion I've always had. The NFL and owners, the casinos, and the sports media all collude to maximize their profits. The NFL is worth about 4 billion I've been told and nearly 2 billion is gambled on it each week. It would be absurd to not think these guys are part of that action as well. The Tim Donaghy scandal already confirmed it. He didn't get busted because the NBA caught him gambling, but rather eventually got caught (he turned himself in after the heat was on his bookie Jimmy Battista) because the casinos were losing money. It's the casinos these leagues cater to more than the fans.